Change rarely changes everything.
Power and influence: Why old structures remain when new ones emerge
When new structures emerge, old networks remain intact. Positions and roles are renamed or redesigned or filled, but trust, loyalty, and hidden interests “of the old system” remain in place for the time being. This is no coincidence; it is more a matter of organizational physics. Energy does not disappear; it transforms. In this case, formal power transforms into informal influence.
And this is precisely where power games and internal politics begin: where people try to secure their influence even though their new formal position or role is different. Power does not shift automatically. It seeks new paths: through informal networks, loyalties, or those who “always” knew how the business worked.
Those who ignore this often experience the same pattern in a new guise after the change.
It is essential to be alert and observant. Otherwise, we will wonder later why nothing or too little has changed, even though everything has been so carefully reorganized...
Why power in organizations remains so constant
Power is not just a position, it is a relationship. It only exists as long as others are willing to recognize it. Or rather, only when it is recognized anew!
This explains why power in organizations is never static: it migrates, following trust, experience, and interpretive authority.
If you want change, you have to understand this relationship dynamic, otherwise only the form will change, not the system. As long as people derive their security from who listens to them, whose approval they need, or whose judgment they fear, the “old” network will remain stable. Even well-intentioned changes can fail because they affect power relations without recognizing them.
A practical example: Old loyalties, new structures
In one factory, the classic line organization was dissolved. Officially, project managers were now in charge, not department heads.
In practice, however, employees still called “their old boss” when decisions had to be made. He no longer had any formal power, but he still had influence: through loyalty, professional competence, a feeling of familiarity, gratitude, and fear of disappointing him.
Such bonds are the silent conduits of the organization: relationships create influence, and influence outlasts any restructuring. No matter what the new organizational chart looks like.
Such “power games,” or rather “power artifacts” (= old power structures), are rarely malicious. They arise as a by-product when the organization creates new structures but no new mechanisms to make influence transparent.
What leadership can do to make change successful
- Observe patterns: After a redesign, it is worth paying close attention to who speaks in meetings, whose suggestions are taken on board, and who sets the tone. This reveals which power structures remain in place.
- Create power maps: If you want to understand how influence is really distributed in the organization, you should use power maps. These reveal who listens to whom, who actually influences decisions, and where informal authority is at work. The goal is not control, but clarity: only when it becomes clear how relationships support or block power can change be shaped in a targeted manner.
- Create new rituals: Power also thrives on habits. Sustainable change does not come about through new structures, but through new social routines. Building on the findings of Huy & Mintzberg, it is worthwhile to regularly incorporate reflection sessions into teams, in which the question is asked: “How did we make decisions this week and who had an influence on them?” Such small routines remove the breeding ground for old power patterns and promote collective responsibility.
- Anchoring responsibility systemically: For change to be sustainable, it needs structures that promote desired behavior: clear decision-making processes, feedback loops, shared data rooms. Systems must support what people should do, not what they have done in the past.
- Leadership as an anchor: In this phase, leadership means providing security without regaining control. Those who maintain orientation create space for new power relationships to grow.
Conclusion
When old power becomes new creative power Power does not disappear just because things should or must be done differently from now on: it remains, at least in the form of influence, but it can change. It helps when organizations learn to talk openly about influence and responsibility. Then old power becomes new creative power.
Outlook
Those who understand power understand another important aspect of change and gain creative freedom for successful processes. The last part of this series will now deal with a facet that (unfortunately) is also part of many change processes: the dark side of power.
Sources:
- Huy, Q. N., & Mintzberg, H. (2003). The Rhythm of Change. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(4), 79–84.
- The long-term study by Huy and Mintzberg shows that sustainable change does not come about through new structures, but through new social routines. Teams that regularly reflect on their collaboration and openly discuss power issues are almost twice as likely to successfully anchor change.
- Huy, Q. N. (2020). Emotional Capital and the Dynamics of Change. In M. S. Poole & A. H. Van de Ven (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation (2nd ed., pp. 319–338). Oxford University Press.
